Did you know that your adductors, that run along the inside of your thighs are actually a group of muscles? No wonder they’re tough to stretch. Adductors work to stabilize the hips and boy have mine been tight, thanks to alot of Airplane poses in last week’s yoga classes. I managed to loosen them up over the weekend and here are the poses I used:

- The Wide Leg Forward Bend Add-on - Point your right toe out a bit, bend your right knee and keep your butt back like you’re trying to keep your knee stacked over your ankle. Look for the juicy stretch in your left thigh.
- Corilee’s Knee Opener - Lie on your back and relax your left leg straight on the floor. Grab your right big toe with your first two fingers (like you’ve got your fingers on a gun trigger - it’s a squirt gun, this is yoga). Your arm is against the inside of your leg. Your knee should be at a 90 degree angle and keep your foot flexed, this intensifies the stretch. Then use your arm to press your bent leg to the right, towards the floor until you find the stretch. Try to relax your leg and let gravity do the work while you breath into the stretch.
- Half Happy Baby - Happy Baby offers a good adductor stretch if you do it one leg at a time. Keep your arm on the inside of your leg (not like it’s pictured here). So with your left leg relaxed straight on the floor, grab onto your right foot, fingers on the outside of your foot. Keep your knee at a right angle and out to the right side of your torso. Pull your knee very gently toward the floor, finding the hip stretch.
- Frog Pose - When you’re ready to pull out all the stops, do this version of Frog Pose. Spread your knees apart as far as they’ll comfortably go, supporting yourself on your elbows. Keep your tail tucked and then play with pressing your hips back. Go easy, this one’s intense. I think this is the one that Baron Baptiste suggests you stay in for 25 breaths :-) Good luck.

I found that giving the muscles a good rub before stretching helped the poses accomplish more. So did a hot epsom salt bath. So did a good schmear of Tiger Balm . Thank god for loose happy hips.